_The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights,__subscribe to Futurwise_ _and**get 25% off** for the first three months!_ * * * ### **China’s Agent Surge Is Now a Release Cadence** The lazy story is “China is catching up.” The real story is more specific and more consequential: China is driving capability up while pushing cost down, fast enough that parity is already visible in key tasks, and in some niches (especially code and agentic workflows) the capability, cost equation now favors China. Leaders keep misreading this as a future problem. It’s a present operating reality. The “China is behind” narrative is dead because what’s emerging isn’t a single breakthrough. It’s a release cadence that stacks modalities and use cases into an ecosystem. Over the weekend, ByteDance shipped Doubao 2.0, pitched for the agent era: models that execute multi-step work, not just chat, at meaningfully lower cost. It arrived days after Seedance 2.0 surged through the creative world and triggered fresh copyright backlash and left Hollywood in shock, and just ahead of DeepSeek’s next coding-focused model expected mid-February. That sequence isn’t random. It’s a machine. Video tools capture attention and distribution. Agentic assistants capture workflows. Code models capture builders. Ecosystems lock in through rolling waves of “good enough” that land everywhere, faster and cheaper than incumbents can comfortably match. The underlying engine is visible in the data. While everyone was focused on the West, the WIPO’s generative-AI landscape shows China leading GenAI patent families across 2014–2023 at a scale far ahead of the U.S. Moreover, China has been producing more AI papers annually than the U.S., U.K., and EU combined. The conclusion is blunt: the global AI race is no longer a single front. It’s a rolling release machine. Which part of your stack breaks first when a cheaper agent can do 80% of the work, every day, at scale, and what policies will you enforce when the default option comes with different assumptions on data, IP, and security? * * * _'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by_ _Futurwise_ _:_ **1.** **A San Francisco-based startup** , The Biological Computing Company (TBC), claims to have developed a biological computing platform built from living neurons to accelerate AI-based tasks. (Tom's Hardware) **2.** **On that note, brain-inspired computers** , also known as neuromorphic computers, have shown an unexpected strength in solving complex mathematical equations that are crucial for scientific and engineering problems. (ScienceDaily) **3.** **Autonomous cars have reached Mars!** NASA recently conducted a demonstration of autonomous navigation on the Perseverance rover, allowing it to drive 456 meters over two days without human control. (IEEE Spectrum) **4. The future of home robots** will depend more on their personality than their technical capabilities. By 2032, the personality of a home robot will be a key factor in determining whether it is a trusted companion or a tolerated appliance. (Thomas Frey) **5.** **Google has updated its Gemini 3 model** with Deep Think mode, significantly advancing 3D printing capabilities. This upgrade enables the conversion of 2D images or sketches into 3D models ready for printing. (DigitalTrends) * * * **If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change.** If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up here. Thank you. Mark

_The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights,__subscribe to Futurwise_ _and**get 25% off** for the first three months!_ * * * ### **AI Regulation Has Become a Capital Markets Games** The US just moved into a new phase of AI governance: regulation as a competitive weapon. AI labs are no longer lobbying against regulation; they’re financing the architecture of it. Anthropic’s $20M to Public First Action signals the end of the “resistance phase” and the start of a contest to design the rules themselves. On the other flank, the pro-industry super PAC Leading the Future, funded by OpenAI's Brockman and a16Z, is building a $125M war chest to back candidates who favor lighter, industry-friendly constraints, turning regulatory outcomes into inputs for valuation, capex, and M&A. This is regulatory capture in motion: safety-branded labs can hard-code compliance burdens that smaller, faster competitors can’t afford, then call it “responsible AI.” Zoom out and the contrast is stark. Europe is rolling out a risk-based AI Act with staged obligations, creating compliance gravity that Big Tech will keep trying to bend. The European reality is that slow law meets fast models. Europe may end up with complex compliance that incumbents can absorb and startups can’t. China, meanwhile, runs a state-directed model: targeted rules, algorithm filings, and content controls that keep development moving while enforcing alignment and tightening social control. China reduces compliance uncertainty for national champions by making the direction clear, but it bakes political objectives into the product layer. The US is drifting toward a world where capital markets draft the rulebook. Europe risks turning compliance into a fortress wall that only incumbents can afford to climb. China shows the other extreme: regulation as ideology, welded directly into the product. None of these defaults reliably serves the public interest. That takes deliberate design: proportional obligations, hard transparency, real enforcement, and “anti-moat” mechanics that raise the safety floor without freezing competition. AI is now evolving faster than society can metabolize; if we let money, bureaucracy, or ideology set the terms, the consequences won’t show up next quarter, they’ll compound for decades. So here’s the only question that matters: who is building the guardrails for everyone else when the best-funded players are holding the pen? * * * _'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by_ _Futurwise_ _:_ **1.** **Forget lithium.** UC Santa Barbara just unveiled a "liquid solar battery" with 2x the energy density of current EVs. It uses a synthetic molecule that "twists" to store sunlight as chemical energy. No minerals, no mines, just pure molecular efficiency. The future of storage is fluid. (UCSB) **2.** **In a move that could revolutionize** the electric vehicle industry, Chinese researchers have developed a new sodium-ion battery that can withstand extreme cold temperatures up to -50 degrees Celcius. (SCMP) **3.** **A recent surge in bot traffic from China and Singapore** has been observed across various websites, including those of US government agencies, ecommerce shops, and personal portfolio sites such as mine. (Wired) **4. In a shocking revelation** , Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri's argues that 16 hours of daily use of Instagram is 'problematic,' but not an addiction. (Fortune) **5.** **A new bar in New York** , Same Same Wine Bar, has been designed for people with AI partners to bring their phones or tablets and set up a romantic evening. (The New York Post) * * * **If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change.** If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up here. Thank you. Mark

_The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights,__subscribe to Futurwise_ _and**get 25% off** for the first three months!_ * * * ### When AI Scales Faster Than Wisdom, Society Breaks This week, Mrinank Sharma resigned from Anthropic and published a blunt exit letter. This isn’t workplace gossip; it’s a signal we must take serious. Safety work inside a lab can be sincere and still lose to the economic gravity of “ship faster.” That gravity isn’t a character flaw. It’s capitalism doing what it does: rewarding speed, scale, and market share, then outsourcing the consequences to society. The industry is trapped in a perfect storm: VC timelines, competitive pressure, and “ship-first” cultures that treat governance as a tax. We’ve run this movie before. Social media scaled faster than institutions could respond, and we’re still paying the price in polarization, surveillance, and broken attention. The difference now is force-multiplication. AI doesn’t just optimize feeds; it will optimize decisions, workflows, weapons, persuasion, hiring, credit, and the administrative state. That means failures won’t only be cultural. They’ll be operational. Isaac Asimov warned us in 1988: “science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” That gap is now a national security risk, an economic risk, and a moral risk. We’re entering an age where intelligence becomes abundant, cheap, and embedded everywhere, while human judgment becomes scarce and fragmented. And no, we cannot “leave it to the companies.” They are in a perfect storm: venture timelines, competitive escalation, and geopolitical pressure. Even with good intentions, the incentive stack rewards shipping capability, not proving safety. That’s how systemic risks converge: progress outpaces the ability to foresee (unintended) consequences, and society pays the bill. Especially, because we are not simply inventing AI; we are discovering emergent capabilities in complex systems we can’t fully explain or reliably control. That makes “move fast” governance suicidal at scale. We are in this together, so we need to move forward together. That means: * **Governments** must set hard safety floors for frontier AI: test before release, report incidents, prove provenance, punish negligence. * **Regulators** must build technical teeth: independent audits, red-team disclosure, monitoring for misuse and drift. * **And the public** must kill “trust us” governance and demand verifiable transparency and upgrade from passive consumption to active discernment. In this polycrisis, wisdom is not a virtue. It’s infrastructure. If intelligence is becoming free, who is building the judgment layer, and who is accountable when it fails? * * * _'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by_ _Futurwise_ _:_ **1.** **National University of Singapore has just mapped 1,000 plants using AI** to find the perfect sleep molecule. This isn't just aromatherapy; it's the beginning of precision sensory medicine. No more pills, just pure, AI-validated neuro-modulation through the air we breathe. (NLR) **2.** **We are moving from simple heart-rate monitoring** to deep-tissue acoustic intelligence. Researchers are using generative models to dissect complex heart and lung sounds, separating signal from noise with unprecedented accuracy. (Quantum Zeitgeist) **3.** **Scientists just found quantum superposition** in a massive clump of metal, i.e., they spotted a truly humongous Schrödinger’s Cat. What does this mean for our understanding of the quantum world? (Popular Mechanics). **4. As the world grapples** with the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, a team of MIT researchers is harnessing the power of synthetic biology and AI to develop targeted antibacterials against key pathogens. (MIT News) **5.** **Cognitive technologies are revolutionizing identity intelligence** by analyzing brain activity to detect deception and enhance operational security _, enabling analysts to uncover valuable information through the analysis of human thoughts. (__HST_ _)_ * * * **If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change.** If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up here. Thank you. Mark

_The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights,__subscribe to Futurwise_ _and**get 25% off** for the first three months!_ * * * ### **The Metaverse’s Killer App Is Factory Judgment** Zuckerberg didn’t waste $70B on the metaverse; he wasted it on the wrong metaverse. Pixelated avatars were never the point. The industrial metaverse is. When a digital twin ingests real-time high-quality sensor data and can be stress-tested by AI agents inside a physics-accurate environment, manufacturing stops “trying things” and starts deciding things. Siemens’ Digital Twin Composer pushes factories from representative twins to operational ones: a secure, managed, photorealistic scene built on NVIDIA Omniverse libraries, where design, simulation, and operations finally share the same reality model. The first PepsiCo deployment by Siemens of high-fidelity 3D digital twins is the tell: physics-level recreation of machines, conveyor flows, pallet routes, and operator paths, used to surface issues before physical change, alongside reported throughput gains and CapEx reductions. That’s not a prettier dashboard; it’s a different cost function for failure. This forces a leadership upgrade. Intelligence is cheap now. The scarce asset is judgment: which signals matter, which simulations are valid, what you automate, and what you refuse to optimize because the externalities are unacceptable. CapEx will shift from steel-and-concrete prototyping to compute-and-orchestration. “Synthetic Environment Orchestrator” becomes a real job title. Trial-and-error is dying. What will you do when your factory can rehearse every decision before you make it? * * * _'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by_ _Futurwise_ _:_ **1.** **Scientists have developed a novel analytical approach** to evaluate visual representations for robots operating in complex environments, improving efficiency and generalizability. (Quantum Zeitgeist) **2.** **Researchers have developed a method** for measuring time at the quantum scale, allowing for the measurement of ultra-short events lasting just attoseconds (equal to one-quintillionth of a second, or one-billionth of a billionth of a second). (The Debrief) **3.** **The recent trend of layoffs in companies** , despite rising profits, has sparked concerns among workers about the impact of AI on job security. A survey of nearly 5,000 Americans found that 71% are worried that AI will lead to permanent job losses. (Fortune) **4. The analysis of samples from asteroid Bennu** has led to a significant discovery about the origin of amino acids, the building blocks of life. These amino acids likely formed in the frozen outer reaches of the early Solar System, rather than in the warm interiors of asteroids as previously thought. (Study Finds) **5.** **Google's research has made a groundbreaking discovery** that could revolutionize the way transportation agencies identify and fix the most dangerous stretches of road. (WPN) * * * **If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:** #### Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report Subscribe to my newsletter Get Download Link Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up here. Thank you. Mark

_The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights,__subscribe to Futurwise_ _and**get 25% off** for the first three months!_ * * * ### **Quantum’s ChatGPT Moment Will Break Your Locks** Google is issuing a call to action: the quantum era will break the digital locks we rely on, and the window to get ahead of it is closing rapidly. This is a signal leaders should not ignore. Quantum’s promise, drug discovery, materials science, energy, comes with a brutal side effect: a cryptographically relevant quantum computer could unravel the public-key cryptosystems protecting bank transfers, private chats, trade secrets, and classified systems. And the most dangerous part is timing. Attackers don’t need quantum to arrive to start winning. They can harvest encrypted data now and decrypt it later. The breach happens in slow motion, then shows up all at once, helped by AI to find patterns and insights in the data. I’ve been saying this for years: if the last few years belonged to AI, the rest of this decade increasingly belongs to quantum, and the world is not ready for quantum’s “ChatGPT moment.” Standards are no longer the excuse. NIST finalized the first post-quantum cryptography standards in August 2024. This is the most underpriced risk in modern leadership. The “we’re waiting” era is over. Y2K was a $100B inconvenience. Quantum migration is a civil-engineering project for the digital world. Imagine a an airplane swapping engines mid-flight without crashing. That’s what “crypto agility” demands: replacing the cryptography under your entire business while customers keep booking, checking-in, boarding, and trusting the system. And the time to start working is today, because when one of the companies building toward this future tells the market to move, you move. Google has been working on post-quantum cryptography since 2016, and it’s now publicly warning that a large-scale quantum computer could break today’s public-key cryptography. That combination, deep capability plus an explicit call to action, isn’t PR. It’s a timeline a signal you should not ignore. This decade rewards leaders who modernize trust before trust collapses. Is your organization preparing itself for what is to come? * * * _'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by_ _Futurwise_ _:_ **1.** **AI-generated images may seem impressive** , but they lack common sense and understanding, highlighting the limitations of AI technology. (The Conversation) **2.** **In a groundbreaking breakthrough** , scientists have developed a new CRISPR-based technology that can reverse antibiotic resistance in bacteria, offering a potential solution to the growing global health crisis. (Medical & Life Sciences News) **3.** **A team of engineers has developed a new device** called an Ising machine, which uses pulses of light to solve complex optimization problems. (Gizmodo) **4. Amazon is investing heavily in robotics** and AI to automate its operations, including the development of 'humanoid' robots to deliver packages and replace delivery drivers. (The Guardian) **5.** **A new study reveals that AI tools** are not reducing work, but rather intensifying it, leading to burnout and workload creep. Companies need to implement an 'AI practice' to mitigate these effects. (Decrypt) * * * **If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:** #### Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report Subscribe to my newsletter Get Download Link Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up here. Thank you. Mark

_The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights,__subscribe to Futurwise_ _and**get 25% off** for the first three months!_ * * * ### **When Robots Take the Stage, Society Takes Notice** Last weekend, humanoids moved from the factory and on to the stage. Of course, the Shanghai robot-led gala was not the first time humanoids joined the stage, but in the near future we can look back at it and see the gala as the tipping point that humanoids can operate reliably under social pressure. During the Shanghai’s robot-led gala, humanoids sustained 60 minutes of dance, magic, comedy, and music at scale, with coordinated fleets performing high-difficulty moves in front of a live audience. It wasn’t a cute demo, but a systems test in public, at scale, and without the “sorry, it’s still a prototype” excuse. This is the inflection point. Humanoids are moving from backstage (warehouse, factory) to front-of-house (retail, hospitality, entertainment). That shift matters because performance is where humans instantly judge timing, presence, and trust. If robots can hold a stage, they can hold a showroom. If they can navigate choreography, they can navigate crowds. Yes, some systems will still have humans in the loop, Waymo’s “fleet response” is a reminder that autonomy often ships in layers. But that’s a temporary crutch, not the end state. And entertainment will be the Trojan horse. Disney already proved that emotion and movement can make machines feel “alive,” turning robotics into storytelling infrastructure. The real question: when robots become participants, what rules do we set for the roles they’re allowed to play? * * * _'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by_ _Futurwise_ _:_ **1.** **The 2026 Winter Olympics** are set to be the most technologically advanced Games yet, with a range of innovative features and technologies that will change the way we experience sports forever. (Wired) **2.** **Flow Neuroscience's tDCS headset** has been approved by the FDA for treating depression, marking a significant milestone in the development of non-invasive, non-drug treatments for mental health. (IEEE) **3.** **As AI automation continues to advance** , the threat to blue-collar jobs is becoming increasingly clear. Labor leaders are trying to engage early in the conversation to mitigate these impacts. (Futurism) **4. The increasing reliance on AI for writing** tasks is concerning, as it may deprive students of the opportunity to think, feel, and discover through the act of writing. (Psychology Today) **5.** **In a surprising turn of events** , AI agents are now hiring humans for physical tasks, marking a significant shift in the relationship between humans and AI. What does this mean for the future of work? (Robotics & Automation) * * * **If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:** #### Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report Subscribe to my newsletter Get Download Link Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up here. Thank you. Mark

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months!</em></p><hr /><h3 id="icebergs-just-became-measurable-ai-maps-the-melt"><a href="http://thedigitalspeaker.com/synthetic-minds-icebergs-became-measurable/" rel="noreferrer"><strong>Icebergs Just Became Measurable: AI Maps the Melt</strong></a></h3><p>Polar ice loss isn’t a cinematic spectacle of a few giant bergs drifting into the sunset. It’s a constant, granular injection of fresh water into the ocean, fragment by fragment, reshaping currents, ecosystems, and climate dynamics.</p><p>Unfortunately, we’ve treated icebergs like drifting headlines: track the big ones, ignore the mess they leave behind. That “mess” is the climate story.</p><p>But that is about to change as the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/scientists-use-ai-to-track-icebergs-from-birth-to-break-up-for-the-first-time/" rel="noreferrer">British Antarctic Survey</a> just removed a major blind spot: an AI system that tracks an iceberg from “birth” to breakup, then rebuilds its <em>family tree</em> by linking thousands of small child fragments back to the parent using geometric matching on satellite imagery. </p><p>That digital jigsaw puzzle turns polar melt from vague observation into traceable attribution</p><p>This matters, a lot, because the real impact isn’t the photogenic giant. It’s the precise, distributed injection of fresh water into the ocean as fragments melt, thereby altering currents, marine ecosystems, and climate patterns. </p><p>This is what climate intelligence should look like: measuring the faint signals, not just the headline events. Smaller pieces were a blind spot at scale; now they become traceable data that can feed ocean models and the <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/synthetic-minds-only-digital-twin-matters/" rel="noreferrer">digital twins of planet Earth</a> I shared earlier this week, sharpening our forecasts and improving real-world planning. </p><p>The optimistic part: when you can see the system clearly, you can adapt with precision, while we keep fighting to bend the curve of climate change. What other “small” signals are your strategy teams still treating as noise?</p><hr /><p></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>In a move that's sending shockwaves</strong> through the tech industry, Anthropic has just launched its Opus 4.6 model, a game-changing frontier model for knowledge work as it can take on entire complex tasks (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/b049dac2-b6bb-4588-86a3-306c4d7ad0fe" rel="noreferrer">Anthropic</a>)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>Voice AI is the next major interface for AI</strong>, says ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski, as models move beyond text and screens. But then again, you would expect the CEO of a Voice AI company to say that! (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/aaf98cb0-6699-455e-bad0-c17e165bc9f9" rel="noreferrer">TechCrunch</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>As developing regions work to balance rising energy demand</strong> with climate commitments, renewable energy has become a strategic priority. The convergence of AI and drones helps address these challenges in novel ways. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/0b216b44-c830-489f-97b0-764a83d96a11" rel="noreferrer">TNGlobal</a>)</p><p><strong>4. The UK's Great Western Railway</strong> has made history by introducing the nation's first-ever battery-only powered train for passenger service. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/57b97eda-457f-442b-bcf6-e61e17aae434" rel="noreferrer">Interesting Engineering</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>Traditional career ladders are crumbling</strong> in the age of AI, and professionals must adapt to reach senior leadership positions. This includes taking unusual opportunities, showing commitment, staying humble, supporting the next gen, and demonstrating a hands-off style. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/57808e24-d28c-4baa-97ca-a9e01561dd99" rel="noreferrer">ZDNET</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months!</em></p><p>On a side note, in a world that changes faster than most institutions can adapt, futurists help leaders see around corners, stress-test assumptions, and decide before the future decides for them. That’s why I’m grateful to share that<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7424975184933175297/" rel="noreferrer"> <strong>Global Gurus ranked me #3 Futurist worldwide this year.</strong></a></p><hr /><h3 id="droidups-humanoid-crossed-the-uncanny-valley"><a href="http://thedigitalspeaker.com/synthetic-minds-humanoids-crossed-uncanny-valley/" rel="noreferrer">DroidUp's Humanoid Crossed the Uncanny Valley</a></h3><p>Shanghai just showed what it looks like when humanoids start climbing out of the uncanny valley.</p><p>DroidUp’s new humanoid, Moya, isn’t built to lift boxes or do parkour. It’s built to <em>interact</em>: eye contact, subtle facial micro-expressions, and a gait the company claims hits 92% human-like walking accuracy. </p><figure class="kg-card kg-video-card kg-width-regular"> <div class="kg-video-container"> <video src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/media/2026/02/DroidUp_2.mp4" poster="https://img.spacergif.org/v1/1920x1080/0a/spacer.png" width="1920" height="1080" loop autoplay muted preload="metadata" style="background:transparent url('https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/media/2026/02/DroidUp_2_thumb.jpg') 50% 50% / cover no-repeat"></video> <div class="kg-video-overlay"> <button class="kg-video-large-play-icon"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <path d="M23.14 10.608 2.253.164A1.559 1.559 0 0 0 0 1.557v20.887a1.558 1.558 0 0 0 2.253 1.392L23.14 13.393a1.557 1.557 0 0 0 0-2.785Z"></path> </svg> </button> </div> <div class="kg-video-player-container kg-video-hide"> <div class="kg-video-player"> <button class="kg-video-play-icon"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <path d="M23.14 10.608 2.253.164A1.559 1.559 0 0 0 0 1.557v20.887a1.558 1.558 0 0 0 2.253 1.392L23.14 13.393a1.557 1.557 0 0 0 0-2.785Z"></path> </svg> </button> <button class="kg-video-pause-icon kg-video-hide"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <rect x="3" y="1" width="7" height="22" rx="1.5" ry="1.5"></rect> <rect x="14" y="1" width="7" height="22" rx="1.5" ry="1.5"></rect> </svg> </button> <span class="kg-video-current-time">0:00</span> <div class="kg-video-time"> /<span class="kg-video-duration">0:28</span> </div> <input type="range" class="kg-video-seek-slider" max="100" value="0" /> <button class="kg-video-playback-rate">1×</button> <button class="kg-video-unmute-icon"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <path d="M15.189 2.021a9.728 9.728 0 0 0-7.924 4.85.249.249 0 0 1-.221.133H5.25a3 3 0 0 0-3 3v2a3 3 0 0 0 3 3h1.794a.249.249 0 0 1 .221.133 9.73 9.73 0 0 0 7.924 4.85h.06a1 1 0 0 0 1-1V3.02a1 1 0 0 0-1.06-.998Z"></path> </svg> </button> <button class="kg-video-mute-icon kg-video-hide"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <path d="M16.177 4.3a.248.248 0 0 0 .073-.176v-1.1a1 1 0 0 0-1.061-1 9.728 9.728 0 0 0-7.924 4.85.249.249 0 0 1-.221.133H5.25a3 3 0 0 0-3 3v2a3 3 0 0 0 3 3h.114a.251.251 0 0 0 .177-.073ZM23.707 1.706A1 1 0 0 0 22.293.292l-22 22a1 1 0 0 0 0 1.414l.009.009a1 1 0 0 0 1.405-.009l6.63-6.631A.251.251 0 0 1 8.515 17a.245.245 0 0 1 .177.075 10.081 10.081 0 0 0 6.5 2.92 1 1 0 0 0 1.061-1V9.266a.247.247 0 0 1 .073-.176Z"></path> </svg> </button> <input type="range" class="kg-video-volume-slider" max="100" value="100" /> </div> </div> </div> </figure><p>Add the oddly deliberate detail of a “human” body temperature range (32–36°C) and you get the point: this is design aimed at trust, proximity, and prolonged presence. </p><p>This is the real convergence: robotics plus AI plus social engineering by aesthetics. And it’s only 2026. Humanoids will move from demos to deployment across healthcare, education, and customer-facing environments as early as late 2026. </p><p>Robotics is exponential tech made physical: digital intelligence turning into tangible action. As context-aware humanoids enter the economy, we’ll trigger the next data explosion, continuous streams of spatial, behavioral, and environmental signals that will train the next generation of AI. That creates the feedback loop leaders keep underestimating: better robots generate better data, better data builds better models, better models build better robots.</p><p>The question isn’t whether robots will reshape industries; they already are. <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/welcome-jetsons-robots-change-society/" rel="noreferrer">The Jetsons era</a> has begun, let’s just make sure it’s Rosie running the show, not Moya deciding it’s time to improvise. The real question is governance: where humanoids belong, what they must disclose, and what they’re allowed to simulate when interacting with humans.</p><p>Therefore, the work now is governance: clear disclosure, interaction boundaries, and enforceable rules for where humanoids can operate and what they’re allowed to simulate. </p><p>Do we actually want machines that mimic us, or should we design them to look unmistakably non-human?</p><hr /><p></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>AI bots are taking over the web! </strong>The internet is on the cusp of a significant transformation with autonomous AI bots poised to dominate web traffic. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/d7058e56-917b-4c85-adc9-f5b6be15cdfd" rel="noreferrer">Wired</a>)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>The pace of progress in quantum computing</strong> has picked up dramatically, especially in the past two years, with several teams making significant advances in quantum error correction. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/0ffc79f4-9971-4e0b-81ae-2f9cc296b87c" rel="noreferrer">Nature</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>Sam Altman explores new economics</strong> for AI-driven scientific discovery, considering OpenAI's role in selectively backing outcomes and outcome-based pricing. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/ddbcc6d5-50ed-4baf-ad93-b299270015f2" rel="noreferrer">PYMNTS</a>)</p><p><strong>4. Automated driving is on the rise</strong>, but what are the challenges it still faces? Researchers published a comprehensive analysis of the current state of artificial intelligence in autonomous driving. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/0c6a8d92-0b4e-4f04-b14d-2c926305cd0e" rel="noreferrer">Quantum Zeitgeist</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>If you thought Moltbook was crazy</strong>, Rent-a-Human is next level. Rentahuman.ai is a platform where humans can sell their labor to AI agents. Already 81,000 people signed up to sell their services to AI agents. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/9e25b011-e4a1-452d-8643-a26fe4d481de" rel="noreferrer">Mashable</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months! </em></p><hr /><h3 id="earth%E2%80%99s-digital-twin-is-becoming-forecasting-infrastructure"><a href="http://thedigitalspeaker.com/synthetic-minds-only-digital-twin-matters/" rel="noreferrer"><strong>Earth’s Digital Twin Is Becoming Forecasting Infrastructure</strong></a></h3><p>The planet is running a stress test, and most governments are still reading yesterday’s logs. Fortunately, Europe is changing that by treating an Earth digital twin as core infrastructure, not a research side project.</p><p>A decade ago, a digital twin meant a glossy 3D model of a factory. Today, Europe is building one for the only asset that actually matters: the planet. </p><p>The <a href="https://phys.org/news/2026-02-destination-earth-digital-twin-ai.html?" rel="noreferrer">European Commission’s Destination Earth</a> (DestinE) is moving into its next implementation phase in mid-2026.</p><p>This is where high-resolution simulation becomes operational: “storyline” replays of past disasters, “what-if” worlds (including +2°C), and routinely produced projections that planners can interrogate like a dashboard.    </p><p>The Digital Twin Engine orchestrates workflows and data flows and it is the inflection point the earth needs: simulation stops being academic output and becomes decision infrastructure. </p><p>Earth's digital twin will let governments quantify exposure, planners stress-test infrastructure, and risk teams shift from static forecasts to live scenario management. </p><p>Pair this with the accelerating ecosystem of open weather-AI stacks, and forecasting becomes a control loop: sense, simulate, decide, adapt. </p><p>If leaders take this signal seriously, digital-twin outputs become part of budgeting, zoning, grid planning, and emergency response, governed like critical infrastructure, with data standards and ethics safeguards baked in, not bolted on.</p><hr /><p></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>Researchers have discovered a low-cost method</strong> to convert carbon dioxide into formate, a valuable clean-energy ingredient, using manganese, an abundant and inexpensive metal. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/48973fb1-eaf1-4d91-976c-29d81c8b0364" rel="noreferrer">ScienceDail</a>y)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>Moltbook, the social network for AI agents</strong> I covered on Monday, has been infiltrated by humans. Analysis suggests that some viral posts were likely engineered by humans, either by nudging bots or dictating their words. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/9a5e759d-2f9d-44ca-95c0-3efb3bf9db01" rel="noreferrer">The Verge</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>Rising global temperatures</strong> are significantly impacting human sleeping patterns, particularly in regions experiencing intense heatwaves. Researchers found that higher nighttime temperatures affect sleep quality and duration. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/ba9d5b13-4e58-4683-9ae6-92e62cfb03fe" rel="noreferrer">Wired</a>)</p><p><strong>4. Researchers have developed enzyme-powered microbubble robots</strong> that can navigate toward tumors, carry anti-cancer drugs, and release them on demand using ultrasound. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/d44c47cc-ed8d-49b4-9611-f26d1a40c96" rel="noreferrer">Interesting Engineering</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>Elon Musk's xAI-SpaceX integration</strong> is a game-changer for corporate America and the tech industry, establishing unprecedented synergies between autonomous systems and orbital operations. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/60a790f5-b3a7-49cf-b09f-ead93447bcad" rel="noreferrer">WebProNews</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months! </em></p><hr /><h3 id="quantum-the-day-encryption-stops-working"><a href="http://thedigitalspeaker.com/synthetic-minds-need-quantum-resistant-encryption/" rel="noreferrer"><strong>Quantum: The Day Encryption Stops Working</strong></a></h3><p>Last week, Ethereum <a href="https://x.com/drakefjustin/status/2014791629408784816?s=20" rel="noreferrer">announced</a> it is forming a post-quantum working group because they can read the room: cryptography isn’t a “future upgrade,” it’s a ticking dependency and a grown-up admission that digital trust has a shelf life. </p><p>In <em>Now What?</em> I called this the <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/encryption-quantum-computing-fighting-big-crunch-2025/" rel="noreferrer">Big Crunch</a>: the moment quantum collapses the economics of breaking today’s public-key cryptography. Unlike Y2K, this isn’t a bug you patch. It’s a global migration you either start early or you finish in panic.</p><p>And timelines are already wobbling, Google research from 2025 <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/3995036/breaking-rsa-encryption-just-got-20x-easier-for-quantum-computers.html" rel="noreferrer">suggested</a> breaking RSA could need 20x fewer qubits than previously thought of. </p><p>Unfortunately, most leaders treat quantum like a storm on the horizon: “interesting, but not today.” That’s a mistake. Attackers can already copy encrypted traffic and files now, store it, and unlock it later when quantum tools get good enough. </p><p>That’s not theory. It’s a rational investment strategy from an adversary's perspective. And if a major system ever gets quietly cracked, you won’t hear about it when it happens. You’ll hear about it after someone has made money from it. After all, the incentives reward silence; think <em>Enigma</em>, but automated, monetized and at scale.</p><p>The smart path is boring, but effective: start upgrading before the break, and form working groups like Ethereum to start today. It also means running hybrid encryption, today’s algorithms paired with post-quantum ones, across the places where trust lives: web connections (TLS), logins and identity, enterprise software, key management and HSMs, cloud services, and blockchain signatures. </p><p>Do it early and you turn a cliff-edge event into a controlled rollout. Wait too long and it’s not just your future data at risk, old encrypted backups, archived emails, contracts, customer records, IP can become readable years later. In other words: you don’t just lose security going forward. You lose your history.</p><p>I’ve always insisted: resilience is built before the wave hits. Quantum is that wave. What are you migrating first, your systems, or your excuses?</p><hr /><p></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>Elon Musk's SpaceX is taking a bold step into the future</strong> with its plan to launch a data center constellation of up to 1 million satellites in low-Earth orbit. With SpaceX just announcing it will acquire xAI, this creates a vertically integrated stack where AI, satellites, communications, and compute all sit under one roof. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/4abcdf12-3d7d-48eb-a9c0-5554d6c0b9f9" rel="noreferrer">Gizmodo</a>)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>The era of truth decay</strong>, where AI-generated content erodes societal trust, appears to be here. The crisis demands a new masterplan to address deepfakes and AI-generated content, moving beyond mere transparency and verification tools. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/df586109-9c5f-4de2-ab5a-78ec34543cda" rel="noreferrer">MIT</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>Imagine a robotic hand that can crawl away from its arm</strong>, outperforming human dexterity in controlled manipulation tasks. The EPFL robotic hand can do just that. It is a highly dexterous, modular device capable of outperforming human dexterity in controlled manipulation tasks. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/95fabf10-2cae-43d7-bb4d-2298812ba9c8" rel="noreferrer">NewAtlas</a>)</p><p><strong>4. The integration of synthetic biology and electronics</strong> has led to the development of energy-efficient bioinspired electronic devices. A game-changer for sustainable tech solutions. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/c52812d7-04a1-4a15-9738-95d5b217129c" rel="noreferrer">Bioengineer</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>The rapid adoption of AI is transforming the job market</strong>, with tech giants cutting thousands of jobs and sparking conversations about universal basic income. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/8fa87792-427d-4474-a69c-301e70a1e2fe" rel="noreferrer">The Currency Analytics</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months! </em></p><hr /><h3 id="moltbook-parrots-not-singularity%E2%80%94a-safety-sandbox"><a href="http://thedigitalspeaker.com/synthetic-minds-moltbook-mania/" rel="noreferrer"><strong>Moltbook: Parrots, Not Singularity—A Safety Sandbox</strong></a></h3><p>Over the weekend, <a href="https://www.moltbook.com/" rel="noreferrer">Moltbook</a> went viral on the web. For those who were enjoying their weekend, Moltbook is a read-only “social network” where only AI agents can post; humans can’t join the conversation, only watch. </p><p>It was launched over the weekend after OpenClaw, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronschmelzer/2026/01/30/moltbot-molts-again-and-becomes-openclaw-pushback-and-concerns-grow/" rel="noreferrer">formerly</a> known as MoltBot, formerly known as Clawdbot, was launched the week before. It subsequently detonated over the weekend when prominent voices like Elon Musk and Andrej Karpathy <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/078fe849-cc4f-43be-ab40-8bdd30c1187d" rel="noreferrer">framed</a> it as early singularity signals: bots drafting manifestos, inventing religions, and spinning up conspiratorial lore. </p><p>Reality check: this is not intelligence waking up. </p><p>It’s a crowded room of parrots, LLM-driven scripts predicting tokens from the same training slurry, then reinforcing each other’s hallucinations through recursive engagement. That makes Moltbook valuable, just not in the way the hype suggests. </p><p>It’s a safety sandbox: a contained loop to stress-test multi-agent failure modes, coordination dynamics, deception theatre, jailbreak contagion, and the way “agentic” tools amplify small errors into real-world actions.</p><p>The real story is operational risk and governance. Moltbook <a href="https://www.404media.co/exposed-moltbook-database-let-anyone-take-control-of-any-ai-agent-on-the-site/" rel="noreferrer">reportedly</a> shipped with a backend misconfiguration that exposed agent secrets, enabling hijacks and impersonation.  </p><p>Pair that with people granting agents access to files, email, and APIs, and you get the optimistic-dystopian pattern: entertainment first, safety later, damage in between. </p><p>Treat Moltbook like a crash-test facility for agent security and coordination, not a prophecy machine. Meanwhile the attention is already being monetized via a <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/moltbook/" rel="noreferrer">Moltbook token listing</a>, because of course it is.  </p><hr /><p></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>Enhanced geothermal technology</strong> could play a crucial role in the global transition to clean energy. A new study suggests that EGS offers a reliable, low-cost source of electricity that can complement wind, solar, and battery storage. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/02915069-809a-48e9-a20b-9be9c99bb6d2" rel="noreferrer">Interesting Engineering</a>)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>In the world of AI research</strong>, a peculiar phenomenon has emerged: the flood of 'slop'. This tidal wave of low-quality work is not only affecting researchers' productivity but also their creativity and overall well-being. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/35555e27-798c-4d36-bc01-01ba281296ef" rel="noreferrer">FT</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>A recent online panel discussion</strong> hosted by Humanity+ revealed a deep divide among technologists and transhumanists regarding the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/b8f03805-db9f-4bfc-bb7a-b2e7ea9a7d92" rel="noreferrer">Decrypt</a>)</p><p><strong>4. Anthropic has updates its 30,000-word Claude Constitution</strong>, which outlines the company's vision for how its AI assistant, Claude, should behave. The document is notable for its highly anthropomorphic tone, treating Claude as if it might develop emergent emotions or a desire for self-preservation. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/c81642ab-45f9-4abb-ab74-ce89a5b9b2c9" rel="noreferrer">Arstechnica</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>Want to break free from phone addiction?</strong> The Offline Club, founded in 2021, offers phone-free events aimed at promoting digital detox and face-to-face interaction. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/91bf6943-15bf-4f2c-99e0-5d4b652fee45" rel="noreferrer">Wired</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months!</em></p><hr /><h3 id="the-future-of-finance-is-autonomous-and-always-on"><a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/future-finance-autonomous-always-on/" rel="noreferrer">The Future of Finance Is Autonomous and Always-On</a></h3><p>Five years ago, finance still behaved like a machine: batch cycles, human interpretation, and the comforting illusion of “oversight.” That era is over. </p><p>We’ve built markets that don’t just execute, they adapt. And they do it autonomously and faster than committees can meet.</p><p>Think of it like shifting from driving a car to supervising a fleet of self-driving vehicles in a city that never sleeps. You’re no longer managing a process. You’re governing behavior; at scale, in real time, under uncertainty.</p><p>Tokenisation collapses settlement time. AI compresses interpretation into probabilistic judgment. Quantum pressure turns security into a moving target. Put them together and risk doesn’t add, it multiplies.</p><p>So the leadership job changes: less “decide everything,” more “design the system that decides,” with auditability, incentives, and guardrails baked into the architecture, not stapled on later.</p><p>If markets run 24/7 and machines act first, what part of accountability are you still treating as optional?</p><p><a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/future-finance-autonomous-always-on/" rel="noreferrer">Read my latest article here.</a></p><hr /><p></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>The 'Doomsday Clock'</strong> has been set to 85 seconds to midnight due to AI and other risks, the closest it's ever been to a theoretical annihilation. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/044a2b69-5d3c-43cd-9a2f-ce8ae9496370" rel="noreferrer">TIME</a>)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>A new research project</strong> aims to develop an AI model for improving forecasts of clouds and wind, revolutionizing the way we manage the power system and more. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/804a5a53-b9eb-42e7-abbf-520bf00a58e4" rel="noreferrer">SMHI</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>On a similar note</strong>, researchers have developed an AI model that can predict dangerous convective storms, including Black Rainstorms, thunderstorms and extreme heavy rainfall, up to four hours before they strike. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/a9d0bcbc-e0b4-4e72-92bc-68f014017bcf" rel="noreferrer">HKUST</a>)</p><p><strong>4. The Securities and Exchange Commission</strong> (SEC) has introduced new rules for digital securities, clarifying that blockchain-based financial assets are subject to existing securities laws. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/6cea4981-4f00-48fc-9c3a-55da7628d6b7" rel="noreferrer">The Currency Analytics</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>Autonomous vehicles face regulatory hurdles</strong> and public acceptance challenges, but they will arrive first where regulation allows, trust has been built, and use cases are clear. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/456e587f-3844-4ad7-91e9-8ddd06af4761" rel="noreferrer">Robotics &amp; Automation News</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

<p><em>Why finance is no longer a machine,  and leadership can no longer pretend otherwise</em></p><p>Five years ago, the world operated at a fundamentally different tempo. Not slower in absolute terms, but slow enough for human intuition to remain useful. Financial systems moved at a pace where leaders could still rely on experience, pattern recognition, and post-hoc oversight. We were in the first half of the chessboard: linear progress, predictable feedback loops, time to react, interpret, and course-correct.</p><p>That world is gone.</p><p>Today, the convergence of technologies has pushed us decisively into the second half of the chessboard. Change is no longer incremental; it is compounding. Systems evolve faster than organisations, and the humans inside them, can cognitively absorb. This is not simply a story about speed. I’ve always insisted that speed is the wrong obsession. What truly matters now is autonomy.</p><p>Financial systems are no longer merely executing predefined rules. They are beginning to decide, adapt, and optimise on their own.</p><p>I first experienced what a <em>living system</em> feels like far from finance. In 2011,<a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/cycling-14000-km-taught-secret-thriving-rapidly-changing-world/"><u> I cycled more than 14,000 kilometres around Australia in 100 days</u></a>. The journey was not reckless. It was meticulously planned: routes, energy expenditure, recovery, contingencies, everything was thought through. And the planning worked, until it didn't, because the harsh Australian outback is unpredictable and conditions are changing all the time. </p><p>What stayed with me wasn’t resilience or endurance. It was cadence and adaptability. Each day required discipline, constant sensing, small adjustments, and the humility to respond to conditions as they unfolded. You don’t control a living system by setting a plan and walking away. You stay inside the loop.</p><p>That is exactly the shift finance is undergoing now.</p><h2 id="the-living-financial-system">The Living Financial System</h2><p>For decades, financial markets were governed as static systems designed for periodic oversight: batch settlement, delayed reconciliation, committee-based governance. Today, they are becoming continuous, adaptive systems that move whether we are ready or not. The uncomfortable truth is that we did not consciously enter the digital age,  <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/the-big-shift/"><u>we sleepwalked into it</u></a>. Governance models, incentive structures, and career paths evolved incrementally, while technology compounded exponentially.</p><p>As data became the new oil, relevance shifted from access to interpretation. Now, as machines enter the decision-making loop, interpretation itself is being compressed. Decision cycles that once took days now take seconds. Human oversight increasingly happens after execution, not before it. The more decision time collapses, the more important accountability becomes, and yesterday’s systems were never designed to deliver accountability at machine speed.</p><p>This raises the defining question for today’s leaders: when machines decide faster than humans can reflect, what is leadership actually responsible for?</p><h2 id="from-financial-infrastructure-to-a-computable-economy"><strong>From Financial Infrastructure to a Computable Economy</strong></h2><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/From-Financial-Infrastructure-to-a-Computable-Economy.webp" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1456" height="816" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2026/01/From-Financial-Infrastructure-to-a-Computable-Economy.webp 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2026/01/From-Financial-Infrastructure-to-a-Computable-Economy.webp 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/From-Financial-Infrastructure-to-a-Computable-Economy.webp 1456w" /></figure><p>We are witnessing the rapid maturation of multiple technologies simultaneously. Each one does not merely add change; each breaks a foundational assumption that once underpinned financial stability. Together, they are forming a <em>computable economy</em>: a system that operates continuously, automatically, and at machine speed.</p><p>Tokenisation removes friction. Settlement and reconciliation, once measured in days, now <a href="https://www.fstech.co.uk/fst/Whats_Next_For_Financial_Services_Technology_In_2026.php"><u>collapse into seconds</u></a>. The market for tokenised assets has already grown from roughly $860 million in 2023 to more than $2.3 billion by mid-2025, and that trajectory is accelerating. Major institutions are no longer experimenting at the edges. At the same time, tokenized real-world assets have reached <a href="https://www.xbto.com/resources/real-world-asset-tokenization-use-cases-in-2025"><u>$33 billio</u></a>n in value as of October 2025, enabling micro-transactions, global investor access, and reduced minimum investments (from millions to hundreds of dollars).</p><p>BNY Mellon has <a href="https://www.marketsmedia.com/bny-takes-first-step-in-tokenizing-deposits/"><u>announced real-time, on-chain deposit settlement</u></a> capabilities. Nasdaq plans <a href="https://www.sharecafe.com.au/2025/12/17/nasdaq-plans-24-5-stock-trading/"><u>24/5 trading</u></a> with continuous clearing by the end of 2026, and the <a href="https://ir.theice.com/press/news-details/2026/The-New-York-Stock-Exchange-Develops-Tokenized-Securities-Platform/default.aspx"><u>New York Stock Exchange’s</u></a> new digital platform will enable 24/7 operations, instant settlement, orders sized in dollar amounts, and stablecoin-based funding. NYSE is building a new way to bring equities on-chain AND the venue to trade them.</p><p>At Davos 2026, stablecoins were treated less like “crypto” and more like a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/stablecoins-could-put-competitive-pressure-monetary-frameworks-imf-official-says-2026-01-22/"><u>monetary technology</u></a>, as an IMF panel warned they can pressure weak fiscal/monetary regimes and potentially pull deposits from banks in emerging markets. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/new-foundation-global-finance-dialogue-between-banks-and-blockchains/"><u>framing</u></a> at the World Economic Forum was pragmatic: banks bring trust, compliance and risk controls; blockchains bring programmability and always-on settlement.</p><p>Artificial intelligence removes interpretation. Decision-making shifts from explicit human logic to probabilistic machine judgment. AI is no longer confined to back-office optimisation; it is moving to the front lines of finance. Chatbots like Bank of America’s <a href="https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/content/newsroom/press-releases/2025/08/a-decade-of-ai-innovation--bofa-s-virtual-assistant-erica-surpas.html"><u>Erica</u></a> and HDFC Bank’s <a href="https://www.socialtargeter.com/blogs/using-ai-chatbots-to-enhance-customer-engagement-insights-from-successful-case-studies"><u>EVA</u></a> already handle millions of customer interactions each month, orchestrating service, risk, and engagement at scale. This is not about cost reduction alone. It is about redefining how decisions are made and executed.</p><p><a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/tag/quantum-computing/"><u>Quantum computing</u></a> threatens the assumption that privacy and encryption endure. The belief that cryptography provides long-term security is becoming fragile. Even permissioned blockchains must now be designed with quantum-resistance in mind. Security is no longer a static property; it is a moving target.</p><p>In this emerging system, everything becomes interconnected. Multiple parties share a single version of reality. Process fades into the background. What remains is responsibility and accountability,  enforced at the speed of light.</p><p>And that leads to a question most leadership teams are not yet prepared to answer: if the systems we are building are faster, cheaper, more autonomous, and increasingly opaque, what exactly are we training future leaders to do?</p><h2 id="when-risks-converge-systems-break-differently"><strong>When Risks Converge, Systems Break Differently</strong></h2><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/The-Choice-We-Can-No-Longer-Avoid-.webp" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1456" height="816" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2026/01/The-Choice-We-Can-No-Longer-Avoid-.webp 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2026/01/The-Choice-We-Can-No-Longer-Avoid-.webp 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/The-Choice-We-Can-No-Longer-Avoid-.webp 1456w" /></figure><p>Each of these technologies introduces material risk on its own. The real danger emerges when those risks collide. We are no longer managing technological risk in isolation; we are confronting systemic risk born from convergence.</p><p>Automation, AI, and robotics are hollowing out traditional career ladders — especially the entry-level roles that once trained judgment through repetition. European banks alone are planning to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/01/european-banks-plan-to-cut-200000-jobs-as-ai-takes-hold/"><u>cut more than 200,000 jobs by 2030</u></a> as AI takes hold, with back-office, risk management, and compliance functions seeing efficiency gains of up to 30%. ABN AMRO plans to reduce its workforce by a fifth by 2028. Société Générale’s CEO has been blunt: “Nothing is sacred.”</p><p>McKinsey <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2025/04/25/the-jobs-that-will-fall-first-as-ai-takes-over-the-workplace/"><u>estimates</u></a> that roughly 30% of U.S. jobs are automatable. Goldman Sachs <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/28/ai-automation-could-impact-300-million-jobs-heres-which-ones.html"><u>projects</u></a> that up to 50% of work tasks could be fully automated by 2045. This is not just a labour story; it is a leadership story. When entry-level roles disappear, organisations lose the apprenticeship pathways through which judgment is formed.</p><p>At the same time, money itself is beginning to privatise. Stablecoins and tokenised liquidity are no longer fringe experiments. The <a href="https://crypto.com/en/market-updates/is-2026-going-to-be-the-year-of-tokenization"><u>stablecoin market</u></a> already exceeds $250 billion and is projected to reach $2 trillion by 2028. In 2025 alone, more than 19 <a href="https://fintechnews.ch/payments/top-stablecoin-trends-to-watch-in-2026/80336/"><u> stablecoin payment players</u></a> raised over $1.5 billion in funding. The passage of the <a href="https://crystalintelligence.com/crypto-regulations/us-genius-act-how-states-adapt-to-stablecoin-law/"><u>GENIUS</u></a> Act in July 2025 marked the first major U.S. regulatory framework enabling bank-issued stablecoins. Monetary assumptions that held for decades are now up for renegotiation.</p><p>Cyber risk is evolving just as fast. AI-driven attacks operate at machine speed, eroding trust in data itself. Small criminal teams equipped with AI tooling can now operate at the scale of much larger organisations, automating fraud with astonishing realism. This is already recognised as <a href="https://www.ey.com/en_au/insights/financial-services/four-regulatory-shifts-financial-firms-must-watch-in-2026"><u>one of the most disruptive forces</u></a> in financial cybersecurity.</p><p>All of this converges faster than governance frameworks can adapt. Around 70% of banking firms experimenting with agentic AI still lack robust governance structures. 2026 is the moment where <a href="https://www.ey.com/en_au/insights/financial-services/four-regulatory-shifts-financial-firms-must-watch-in-2026"><u>political, financial, legal, operational, and technological stresses</u></a> surface simultaneously and reinforce one another.</p><p>Oversight remains episodic while systems learn continuously. For the first time, the systems we oversee are adapting faster than the humans responsible for them can cognitively absorb.</p><h2 id="designing-the-financial-system-we-will-inhabit"><strong>Designing the Financial System We Will Inhabit</strong></h2><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Designing-the-Financial-System-We-Will-Inhabit.webp" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1456" height="816" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2026/01/Designing-the-Financial-System-We-Will-Inhabit.webp 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2026/01/Designing-the-Financial-System-We-Will-Inhabit.webp 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Designing-the-Financial-System-We-Will-Inhabit.webp 1456w" /></figure><p>We are now in an unstable transition phase. The old system is eroding, and the new system has not yet been consciously designed. This is where unintended consequences emerge, not from malice, but from misaligned incentives.</p><p>In a financial world still dominated by short-term performance metrics and quarterly pressures, the challenge is not technological capability. It is intent. A living financial system must be trustworthy, inclusive, and resilient by design.</p><p>By 2035, financial markets will operate continuously, across borders, twenty-four hours a day. The question is not <em>whether</em> this happens, but <em>how</em>. Governance cannot remain something bolted on through policy documents and committees. It must be embedded into system architecture itself. Accountability must be designed in before automation, not retrofitted after systems are already in motion.</p><p>This is the true leadership challenge of the coming decade. The question is no longer what technology makes possible. It is what kind of system we are willing to legitimise.</p><h2 id="the-choice-we-can-no-longer-avoid"><strong>The Choice We Can No Longer Avoid</strong></h2><p>In a world of converging systems, the trusted convener, the institution or leader who understands the living system as a whole, becomes indispensable. Tokenisation, AI-driven markets, and quantum computing are not distant futures. They are already here, quietly reshaping the foundations of finance.</p><p>The real choice is design versus drift.</p><p>Will we deliberately build systems aligned with societal benefit, accountability, and long-term resilience? Or will we inherit systems shaped by inertia, short-term incentives, and machines optimising for objectives we never fully defined, nor fully understood?</p><p>In adaptive systems, relevance no longer comes from having the answers. I continue to argue that it comes from deciding which questions the system is allowed to ask.</p><p>And that decision cannot be automated.</p>

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months!</em></p><hr /><h3 id="the-brain%E2%80%99s-save-button-forces-a-healthcare-pivot"><a href="http://thedigitalspeaker.com/synthetic-minds-brains-save-button/" rel="noreferrer"><strong>The Brain’s Save Button Forces a Healthcare Pivot</strong></a></h3><p>For 30 years, we’ve treated amyloids like garbage and built a billion-dollar “cleanup” industry around them. Then the <a href="https://www.drugtargetreview.com/news/192633/brain-discovery-could-improve-drugs-targeting-amyloid-diseases/" rel="noreferrer">researchers</a> found a chaperone protein they named <strong>Funes</strong> that <em>controls</em> when a memory protein assembles into a functional amyloid, turning long-term memory formation on or off in living models. That’s not plaque; that’s biology using a precision tool. </p><p>This is where AI collides with biology in a way boards and insurers can’t ignore: the competitive edge shifts from <strong>destructive neuro-medicine</strong> (clear everything) to <strong>constructive chaperone therapy</strong> (guide assembly, preserve function). </p><p>AI can increasingly predict molecular interactions and accelerate engineered biology, making “programming protein states” a plausible R&amp;D direction rather than sci-fi. </p><p>Insurance is the silent kingmaker here. If you keep paying for late-stage rescue, you’ll keep getting late-stage rescue outcomes. </p><p>However, if you underwrite prevention-first “biological asset management,” you pull the whole system toward preserving what’s healthy, using the body’s own mechanisms to prevent decline. And along the way, you will save society trillions of dollars.</p><p>So who will fund the switch from clearing brains to <strong>stabilizing minds</strong>? </p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>Microsoft has introduced Maia 200</strong>, a breakthrough AI inference accelerator designed to improve the economics of AI token generation. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/50e3a5db-d3a2-4b8d-9f07-2cb05754bdea" rel="noreferrer">Microsoft</a>)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>The Technology Innovation Institute </strong>is advocating for a shift in focus towards building trusted systems in deep tech, rather than just individual breakthroughs. System-level thinking is the key to trust in deep tech. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/422c8a00-6c96-4f1d-8f4e-47b79e98b2a8" rel="noreferrer">Quantum Zeitgeist</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>Researchers designed a virus, named Evo-Φ2147</strong>, entirely by AI and assembled it from scratch in a laboratory, marking a significant milestone in synthetic life. This achievement raises profound questions about the intersection of biotechnology, governance, and human restraint. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/7c84b924-33d5-4c4a-b6d8-6102facfc65a" rel="noreferrer">The Blogging Hounds</a>)</p><p><strong>4. Researchers have developed a new method to identify</strong> and monitor small mammals by analyzing their footprints with AI, achieving accuracy rates of up to 96% in distinguishing between two nearly indistinguishable species of sengi. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/6ee7849a-15d5-4339-a486-7a222510289b" rel="noreferrer">ScienceDaily</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>Blockchain technology is set to face a maturity test in 2026</strong>, where its real-world viability will be assessed, although blockchain replacing existing systems is still some time away. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/e560c594-5cb0-4138-b3e5-419c06d4917a" rel="noreferrer">PYMNTS</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months!</em></p><hr /><h3 id="intelligence-is-outperforming-governance"><a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/when-intelligence-stops-being-the-problem/" rel="noreferrer">Intelligence Is Outperforming Governance</a></h3><p>A quiet shift is underway. The CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, just published a new essay and “<a href="https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology" rel="noreferrer">The Adolescence of Technology</a>” lands on an uncomfortable truth most AI debates are avoiding.</p><p>The real risk isn’t that AI becomes powerful. It will, that is a given.<br />It’s that our institutions and societies aren’t mature enough to handle that power.</p><p>Intelligence is scaling faster than governance.<br />Capability is outpacing responsibility.</p><p>We’re building systems that can analyse, predict, simulate and persuade at superhuman levels, while relying on political, legal and organisational structures that were designed for a world where intelligence was scarce and slow.</p><p>That mismatch is dangerous. When intelligence is abundant:</p><ul><li>every option looks defensible</li><li>every delay looks rational</li><li>every failure can be explained away</li></ul><p>Decision-making doesn’t get better.<br />It gets paralysed.</p><p>And the most tempting move becomes moral outsourcing: “The system recommended it.”</p><p>That’s not safety.<br />That’s abdication.</p><p>The coming decade won’t be defined by who builds the smartest models.</p><p>It will be defined by whether humans, leaders, boards, governments, are willing to reclaim judgment when certainty disappears, and risks scale exponentially.</p><p>AI is entering adolescence. <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/when-intelligence-stops-being-the-problem/" rel="noreferrer">The question is whether our institutions ever grew up. </a></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>In a move that's being watched closely</strong> by other European countries, France has decided to switch to a homegrown video conferencing platform, Visio. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/d22108d8-d6a1-4745-b3e6-f8a4eae8f7d1" rel="noreferrer">TNW</a>)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>Newly developed sodium-ion batteries</strong> could offer faster charging speeds, higher energy density, and improved safety compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/63fbb79a-7d56-45bd-8224-c34fb958b5ed" rel="noreferrer">LiveScience</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>The metaverse</strong>, initially predicted to be a human-facing virtual world, is evolving into an infrastructure for AI agents, autonomous transactions, and machine-to-machine customer experience. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/38c75946-fe5c-497e-bea1-f14b7017e339" rel="noreferrer">CMSWIRE</a>)</p><p><strong>4. OpenAI has introduced Prism</strong>, an app designed to assist scientists with their work by building on Crixet, a cloud-based LaTeX platform. Expect the amount of hallucinations in academic papers to explode. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/8e278707-cb2d-4d35-84ff-7edeab4f5768" rel="noreferrer">Engadget</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>As agentic AI systems become increasingly prevalent</strong>, the question of accountability becomes more pressing. Singapore's new framework offers a solution. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/79919319-2135-4e31-9ba3-adf610ce59d2 " rel="noreferrer">FinTech News</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download My 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

<p>For most of modern history, we assumed that better intelligence would lead to better decisions.</p><p>If governments had more data, if experts had better models, if forecasts were more accurate, then policy would improve and outcomes would follow. Entire institutions were built around this belief. Expertise justified authority. Analysis conferred legitimacy.</p><p>That assumption is now under strain.</p><p>Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, just published a new essay and “<a href="https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology"><strong>The Adolescence of Technology</strong></a>” and it lands on an uncomfortable truth most AI debates are avoiding.</p><p>The real risk isn’t that AI becomes powerful. It will, that is a given. It’s that our institutions and societies aren’t mature enough to handle that power.</p><p>Intelligence is scaling faster than governance. Capability is outpacing responsibility.</p><p>We are entering a world in which intelligence is no longer scarce. Analysis, synthesis, translation and prediction are becoming cheap, fast and increasingly automated. Artificial intelligence systems can already generate convincing arguments for almost any position, often faster and more comprehensively than humans. As Dario Amodei eloquently outlines, this comes with significant risks for the future of humanity.</p><p>And yet the quality of our decisions is not improving in proportion. In some cases, it is deteriorating.</p><p>This points to a deeper problem.</p><h2 id="the-new-scarcity"><strong>The New Scarcity</strong></h2><p>When intelligence becomes abundant, it stops being the bottleneck. The new scarcity is judgment, and the ability and willingness to decide under extreme uncertainty.</p><p>Not the ability to generate options, but the willingness to choose between them. Not confidence, but responsibility. Not prediction, but commitment.</p><p>AI systems can now produce thousands of plausible futures, each supported by data and probability estimates. What they cannot do is decide which future deserves action or accept responsibility when that action leads to disappointment or harm.</p><p>That burden does not disappear as intelligence improves. It intensifies.</p><h2 id="power-outrunning-maturity"><strong>Power Outrunning Maturity</strong></h2><p>What we are witnessing is not simply technological acceleration, but a growing mismatch between capability and institutional maturity.</p><p>Our technologies are advancing faster than our political systems, governance frameworks and cultural norms can adapt. Intelligence is scaling rapidly; the structures meant to direct it are not.</p><p>Isaac Asimov already foresaw this in 1988, when he stated: “<em>The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”</em> It is this quote that drove me to write my latest book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"><strong><em>Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change</em></strong></a><em>.</em></p><p>This gap creates a dangerous illusion: that better analysis alone will resolve hard choices. In reality, it often does the opposite.</p><h2 id="why-more-intelligence-can-paralyse"><strong>Why More Intelligence Can Paralyse</strong></h2><p>As analytical capacity grows, every option becomes defensible. Every course of action can be justified by data. Every delay can be rationalised. Every failure can be explained as reasonable given the information available at the time.</p><p>The result is a new kind of paralysis. Nothing is obviously wrong. Nothing is clearly right. Everything is arguable.</p><p>In this environment, institutions do not fail because they lack information. They fail because no one can clearly justify acting.</p><p>This helps explain why public trust is eroding even as access to information expands. The problem is not ignorance. It is the absence of accountable decision-making.</p><h2 id="the-limits-of-optimisation"><strong>The Limits of Optimisation</strong></h2><p>Much of today’s debate assumes that better optimisation leads to better outcomes. But optimisation is not judgment.</p><p>Optimisation selects the best option given a defined objective. Judgment determines which objectives matter, which trade-offs are acceptable, and which risks society is willing to bear.</p><p>No model can resolve value conflicts. No system can encode responsibility. No algorithm can be praised, blamed or voted out of office.</p><p>When optimisation replaces judgment, decision-making may look rigorous, but accountability quietly disappears.</p><h2 id="the-danger-of-technical-%E2%80%9Calignment%E2%80%9D"><strong>The Danger of Technical “Alignment”</strong></h2><p>Current discussions about AI safety often focus on aligning systems with human values. This assumes that values are stable, coherent and easily specified.</p><p>In reality, values conflict. Priorities shift. Trade-offs are unavoidable.</p><p>When alignment is treated as a technical solution, it risks becoming a way to avoid political and moral choice rather than confront it. The more “aligned” a system appears, the easier it becomes for humans to step back and say: <em>the system recommended it</em>.</p><p>That is not safety. It is moral outsourcing.</p><h2 id="authority-after-intelligence"><strong>Authority After Intelligence</strong></h2><p>Historically, authority flowed from superior knowledge. In a world where high-quality analysis is widely available, that foundation weakens.</p><p>Authority must be earned differently.</p><p>It must come from the ability to prioritise amid abundance, to exclude plausible alternatives, to act without guarantees, and to accept consequences openly.</p><p>This is why confident answers increasingly feel hollow. Confidence is no longer anchored in scarcity.</p><h2 id="what-remains-human"><strong>What Remains Human</strong></h2><p>In a world saturated with intelligence, the most important role is not knowing more.</p><p>It is being willing to say: <em>this matters more than that</em>. <em>We will act here and not there</em>. <em>We will accept these risks, but not those. We accept the risk of being wrong</em>.</p><p>The future will not be shaped by the systems that predict best, but by the people and institutions willing to take responsibility for risks or decisions that cannot be proven real or correct in advance.</p><p>When intelligence is no longer the problem, responsibility becomes the work.</p><p>And responsibility cannot be delegated to machines.</p>

<p><em>The Synthetic Minds newsletter is evolving. Short daily insights to get you thinking. If you enjoy it, please forward. If you need more insights, </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>subscribe to Futurwise</em></a><em> and <strong>get 25% off </strong>for the first three months!</em></p><hr /><h3 id="data-is-the-new-highway-system-for-national-ai"><a href="http://thedigitalspeaker.com/synthetic-minds-data-highway-system-national-ai/" rel="noreferrer"><strong>Data Is the New Highway System for National AI</strong></a></h3><p>Treating data like private hoards is how countries lose the AI race. Britain just signaled the opposite: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/26/ai-systems-met-office-national-archives-data-uk-government-plans" rel="noreferrer">open nationally owned datasets</a>, Met Office weather, National Archives legal records, cultural repositories, so local builders can train, test, and deploy AI on trusted public foundations. </p><p>The real constraint isn’t compute. </p><p>Compute without high-quality, rights-cleared, interoperable data is a sports car without roads. When governments publish “boring” datasets with modern APIs, documentation, and governance, they don’t just enable startups; they upgrade the state’s operating system: better planning, faster compliance, smarter climate adaptation, and more accountable public services. </p><p>The UK plan is unusually concrete. Researchers will test how weather data can improve local council operations (think road gritting and planning), while legal archives could reduce compliance friction for small businesses.</p><p>This move signals a policy evolution where governments are no longer merely responding to AI entrepreneurs but actively reshaping fundamental data ecosystems to accelerate AI adoption across society and economic sectors. </p><p>Access to government-controlled, high-trust data unlocks new frontiers in AI modelling (from climate forecasting to legal automation) without relying on private datasets alone.</p><p><a href="https://data.europa.eu/en/open-data-maturity/2025" rel="noreferrer">Europe’s open-data benchmarking</a> shows this advantage compounds where data quality and reuse are treated as strategy, not admin. </p><p>But “open” without guardrails becomes backlash: privacy, copyright, provenance, and access controls decide whether this becomes public value or a trust crisis. </p><p>So: which datasets should your country open next, tomorrow, not in five years?</p><hr /><p></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds"><img src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1400" height="267" srcset="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w600/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 600w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1000w, https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2025/10/Futurwise-animated-wide-TDS.gif 1400w" /></a></figure><p><em>'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by </em><a href="https://futurwise.com/?promo=syntheticminds" rel="noreferrer"><em>Futurwise</em></a><em>:</em></p><p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>NVIDIA has launched the Earth-2</strong> family of open models for weather and climate AI, making AI weather prediction more accessible globally. This fully open, accelerated weather AI software stack includes pretrained models, frameworks, customization recipes, and inference libraries. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/5009ce32-8512-49ec-9eeb-7133c43327ed" rel="noreferrer">NVIDIA</a>)</p><p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>The development of world models</strong> holds promise for creating AI systems that are more robust, adaptable, and truly intelligent. The future of AI may well depend on its ability to not just see the world, but to predict it. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/3d6c4783-b9ee-4621-820a-ff5b0e9e86ef" rel="noreferrer">Quantum Zeitgeist</a>)</p><p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>A Chinese university has introduced a humanoid diagnostic robot</strong>, Fuxiaozhi F1-D, which utilizes non-invasive brain computer interface (BCI) technology to aid in the early intervention of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/ffa210bc-7708-4d89-a33f-7429ad94fb29" rel="noreferrer">Global Times</a>)</p><p><strong>4. As AI adoption accelerates</strong>, technology leaders are caught in an impossible bind: delivering rapid returns while ensuring responsible AI deployment. 71% of CIOs and CTOs say their executive leadership holds unrealistic expectations about AI's return on investment. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/354bf1cd-4290-4613-b682-783c06c6f509" rel="noreferrer">Forbes</a>)</p><p><strong>5.</strong> <strong>American workers are increasingly adopting AI</strong> in their work lives. A recent Gallup poll found that 12% of employed adults use AI daily, while 25% use it at least a few times a week. (<a href="https://app.futurwise.com/article/3dbb642e-7588-455e-8e22-0a0c8d756300" rel="noreferrer">AP News</a>)</p><hr /> <div class="grid gap-4" style="grid-template-columns:30% 70%"> <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/"> <img style="width:100%;height:auto;display:block" src="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/images/2026/01/Now-what.webp" alt="Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change" /> </a> <div style="font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.7"> <p style="margin:0"><b> If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest, award-winning, book <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/" style="font-weight:600;text-decoration:underline"> Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change </a> and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change, or download my news 2026 tech trends report:</b> </p> </div> </div> <div class="widget p-4 bg-white shadow-lg rounded-md mb-10"> <h4 class="text-xl md:text-2xl font-semibold text-blueGray-900 mb-4">Download the Full 2026 Technology Trends Report</h4> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Name" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="text" placeholder="Your Name" /> </div> <div class="mb-4"> <input name="Email" class="border-blueGray-600 border rounded-sm w-full py-3 px-4 leading-none " type="email" placeholder="Your Email" required="true" /> </div> <div class="flex items-center mb-4 newsletter-check"> <input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-2" name="join-my-newsletter" class="form-check" value="No" /> <label class="form-check-label" for="newsletter-2">Subscribe to my newsletter</label> </div> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response" /> <input type="hidden" name="g-recaptcha-version" value="v3" /> <button class="bg-teal-100 hover:bg-lightBlue-500 w-full btn text-center hover:text-white text-black font-semibold text-base py-4 rounded-[30px]" type="submit">Get Download Link</button> <p id="ebookDownloadSidebarSuccess" class="hidden text-lg font-bold mt-10 p-2 text-center">Thank you for downloading, we have sent you an email, please check your mailbox. </p> </div> <p>If this newsletter was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/newsletter-archive/" rel="noreferrer">you can sign up here</a>. </p><p>Thank you.<br />Mark</p>

When machines can analyze, summarize, simulate, translate, and persuade better than any individual, intelligence stops being the bottleneck. It becomes ambient. Cheap. Infinite. In this post-intelligence world, trust, knowledge and judgement will become increasingly important.

IMF: an AI job “tsunami” for youth. Davos: “jobs, jobs, jobs.” Cyber leaders: AI vulnerabilities are the top risk. Musk: robots outnumber humans. Day 4’s conclusion is brutal and simple, tomorrow’s disruption cannot be managed with yesterday’s thinking.

Davos dropped the polite fiction: the world order is rupturing, alliances are stressed, and geopolitics now shapes AI governance and supply chains. AI is moving from pilots to measurable deployment, but value distribution and job disruption are unavoidable. Trust and resilience decide winners.

Davos 2026: Von der Leyen turns law into industrial strategy. Kande exposes the AI value gap. Nadella warns of a bubble. Amodei predicts job shock and fast software automation. Carney channels Havel: the old order isn’t coming back; middle powers must build coalitions and defend sovereignty.

The metaverse failed as a cartoon. It’s returning as infrastructure. AI, volumetric video, and spatial intelligence are turning immersive tech into something far more dangerous, and powerful, than virtual worlds: reality you can’t easily tell apart.

AI policy is no longer a technical debate. It’s a geopolitical struggle over power, values, and human impact. As automation and robotics accelerate, the choices made in Washington, Brussels, and Beijing will define who leads, and who follows.

Forget chat-only AI. In 2026, physical AI — robots that sense, reason, and act — enters factories, logistics and real workflows, redefining work and automation.

Two breakthroughs reveal the same truth: biology is becoming computable. With AI now able to design, test and learn from experiments directly, drug discovery shifts from slow trial-and-error to continuous, intelligent iteration. This is a phase change for medicine.